Community Service

The area of excellence for the Department of Pediatric Dentistry continues to be its dedicated service to the community at the School of Dental Medicine, as well as within the community.  One component of the overall mission statement of the School of Dental Medicine is to engage in public service activities by making available the expertise of its educational programs and clinical services to the local community, public agencies, and society at large. Concerted efforts by faculty, residents, staff, and the Student Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry have made the department’s achievements outstanding.

The department has coordinated dental service programs with Summit Academy and Sleepy Hollow; second chance detention centers for 13 to 18 year old adjudicated youth.  These teenagers come to the department exclusively for their outpatient dental services and are treated by the first professional dental students.  The educational goals of this initiative are to introduce first professional students to the concept of providing community service to underserved populations and to provide a more diverse patient pool with a wider range of experiences to the dental students.

The department maintains an active and expanding community outreach program and interacts with agencies regularly.  These interactions span a wide variety of underserved segments of society.  For example, the department provides dental health presentations to Project DART, a program with a client base of children with special needs; dental examinations along with cleanings and restorative care to Head Start children in both inner city and rural settings; and dental care to in-patients from Gateway Rehabilitation Center, a chemical dependency treatment center in Beaver County, as well as clients from Shuman Center.